In modern construction, refurbishing and home improvement projects there are many instances where the surface of one object needs to be fastened to the surface of another so that the second object covers and is supported by the first. An example is where wallboard, plywood, signage, sub-floor, or other useful or decorative paneling or the like, is adhered to studs, to furring strips, to lath, to joists, or to an existing sidewall, ceiling or floor surface such as one made of plaster, wallboard, sheathing panels, particle board, cinder block or the like.
Many and various are the kinds, constituencies and formulations of the adhesives which may be and are used for adhering. Whole books are written on the subject, e.g. S. Skeist, e.d., Handbook of Adhesives, second edition, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York 1977 (ISBN 0-442-27634-6). Of particular interest from this work are Chapter 49, R. J. Blomquist et al, "Adhesives for Building Construction", and Chapter 56, D. K. Rider, "Adhesives Guide for Designers". The patent literature is replete with teachings as to kinds, constituencies and formulations of adhesives, e.g. in T. J. Sweeney et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,827, issued June 16, 1981.
The present invention has nothing to do with any new kind, constituency or formulation of adhesive, but simply with a new product and process which makes more convenient the use of many existing adhesives or ones hereafter developed for many instances where one object is to be adhered surfacewise to another.
Some adhesives in current use are very active, so that extreme caution is advised, for avoiding injury to the user. Potential problems include eye damage, skin burns, adhesion of clothing to the skin and of fingers to the work or to one another. Also a problem is inadvertent dripping, oozing, or running of adhesive onto finished surfaces, carpeting, furniture and the like in the vicinity of a do-it-yourself project, on into bearings or other moving parts of tools, power tools and machinery also being used on the project. Some do-it-yourselfers or potential do-it-yourselfers are believed to have a reluctance to engage in any project where they have to look at drops, beads or puddles of flowable liquid sticky material, perhaps out of the fear that they will get it on themselves, or otherwise make a mess that they do not want to have a clean up. What is needed is an adhesive applying means for the fastidious potential do-it-yourselfer, specifically a product that lets the user apply adhesive without ever having to look at it or worry about having to clean up a mess of it.
Some adhesives, e.g. cyanoacrylates such as those sold under the trade name "Superglue", which cure or set within five seconds or so upon exposure to air and/or upon being spread as a thin layer, are very difficult for one person to use working alone, especially where one large or heavy object needs to be stuck to a surface. The problem is that by the time the lone user gets a series of dots, beads, patches or a coat of the adhesive onto a sufficient area of one of the surfaces much of the adhesive is already substantially set, dry, reacted or the like and is no longer tacky or active. Accordingly, for such purposes, the quick-setting feature becomes a severe detriment rather than an advantage.